Joe Lhota (James Messerschmidt)
Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota unveiled his education priorities at a feisty debate last night, announcing his support for merit-based pay for teachers and the closure of failing schools.
The education debate at Central Synagogue on the East Side marked the first time all the candidates for New York City’s top post appeared together.
Lhota’s better-known Democratic counterparts largely disagreed with the former MTA chief, whose education positions are sure to draw the ire of the powerful city teachers union.
“There is no reason why teachers are all treated identical,” Lhota said in response to a question from a Bronx school principal about how to retain good educators in difficult schools.
“It should be based on performance. It should be based on how difficult the subject matter is. Also it’s how difficult the school is, and that’s been proven in many, many parts of the country — having teachers compensated not just how long they’ve been there but how well they do,” Lhota said.
He said the city should take its cue from Newark, which instituted a form of merit pay.
The forum was attended by all the Democratic contenders: Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, city Comptroller John Liu, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and former Comptroller Bill Thompson.
On the Republican side, in addition to Lhota, there were publisher Tom Allon and supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis.
The Democrats disputed Lhota’s call for teacher merit pay.
Mayor Bloomberg suggested merit pay in a State of the City address several years ago but the idea was a nonstarter with the United Federation of Teachers, whose endorsement is highly coveted by the Democrats.
Quinn and Thompson used the forum to push for longer school days, smaller class sizes in lower grades and saving funds through cutting bloated contracts.
Quinn also proposed a teacher mentor program run by CUNY.
De Blasio reiterated his plan to raise taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers to fund universal Pre-K and said teacher evaluations should rely less on standardized tests.
He made clear that he would oppose Bloomberg’s education track record and took a jab at Quinn and Thompson, saying:
“Where were you when teachers were being vilified? That will be a matter of public record as we all debate over the coming months.”
Liu and Lhota got into a fiery discussion of the co-location of charter schools — which have expanded under Bloomberg and become a source of dispute with the UFT.
Liu said it creates tension when charters share building space with traditional public schools.
Meanwhile, Catsimatidis — a billionaire supermarket magnate — added levity to the debate, repeatedly telling the audience he failed calculus.